The idea of "skin in the game" as Buffet intended is more than just a stake in the outcome. One who has "skin in the game" not only has his own money invested, but he is part of the decision making process over his and other's investment. An investor has money on the line but he is at the mercy of the managers' business decisions. An executive who has no "skin in the game" makes the decisions for other's investment, but if it goes bad he does not lose any of his personal money and just walks away unharmed. In other words he gets to play the investment game without the same risk as those he is playing for.

An analogy might be the pilot of an airliner. His decisions in the cockpit will affect him just as surely as it will his passengers. He has "skin in the game". But if the pilot is on the ground flying the plane remotely from the airport bar, his decisions will still affect the health and well being of the passengers but not his own.

A term coined by renowned investor
Warren Buffett referring to a
situation in which high-ranking
insiders use their own money to buy
stock in the company they are running.

The idea behind creating this
situation is to ensure that
corporations are managed by
like-minded individuals who share a
stake in the company. Executives can
talk all they want, but the best vote
of confidence is putting one's own
money on the line just like outside
investors!

Buffett's original intention equated money with skin because losing either would be painful.

An alternative would be "stake in the result" where the stake is an investment of money, time, effort or even reputation.